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Brewin Dolphin Girls’ Cup gets underway

The flagship competition for girls’ rugby, The Brewin Dolphin Girls Cups, will get underway this month with the quarter-finals draw now in place.

Photo: Murrayfield Wanderers under-15 and Community School of Auchterarder under-18 players with former Scotland Women internationalist Keri Holdsworth and the Brewin Dolphin Girls' Cups.

The flagship competition for girls’ rugby, The Brewin Dolphin Girls Cups, will get underway this month with the quarter-finals draw now in place.

Under-18 Cup champions Murrayfield Wanderers begin the defence of their title with an away tie to a combined Bell Baxter and Buckhaven High Schools side.

In the junior competition, the under-15 trophy was shared in the 2013 final between Langholm and Community School of Auchterarder. The Perthshire team start at home against Oban High School, while the Borderers travel to Clackmananshire to take-on a combined Alloa and Alva Academies team.

Yesterday (Sunday 1 December), the tournament was officially launched in Edinburgh at an under-18 girls’ sevens tournament at Broughton Rugby Club. A number of the teams involved in this abbreviated competition are set to compete in the Brewin Dolphin tournament.

In the senior competition Plockton High School and a Borders combined team will try their hand at the Cup for the first time, with Nicolson Institute / Stornoway taking a step up from the Shield tier in which they competed last season. Their younger counterparts are also making the step up. Meanwhile Alloa Academy / Alva Academy also come into the under-15 Cup for the first time.

Scottish Rugby’s head of clubs and schools, Nick Rennie, said: “It’s great to see a selection of new teams coming into and old teams returning to the Brewin Dolphin Girls’ Cup this season.

“The competition in this tournament at both age groups is always full-on and very exciting. That can be seen by the fact the under-15 trophy was shared last season following a 34-all draw between the finalists [Community School of Auchterarder and Langholm].

“We hope that this season’s Cup competition and Shield and Bowl events, in February, will be a great advert for the fantastic development we are seeing in girls’ rugby throughout the country. "

As well as the Cup competition the Brewin Dolphin under-18 Shield and Bowl finalists will be decided at a rugby festival on Sunday 23 February and the under-15s at two festivals on Sunday 16 February. Venues are still to be finalised.

Across all Brewin Dolphin Girl’s competitions entries have increased from 32 last season to 37 this time round, with all five of the additional entries in the under-15 Plate.

Marc Wilkinson, regional director of Brewin Dolphin in Scotland, said: “The girls’ competition is a highlight of the schools rugby calendar and it’s heartening to see more and more youngsters getting involved in the game each season.

“I wish each and every team involved all the best as they move throughout the competition and progress to the finals in March 2014.”

Exact times and dates for the Cup fixtures have yet to be finalised. Visit www.scottishrugby.org, ongoing, for up-to-date fixtures.